Marbury - 9 March 2012

A beautiful early Spring day at Marbury Country Park, Cheshire. A quick stop at the Bittern hide found  the usual activity on the feeders, with Great Tits, Blue Tits, Coal Tits, Robins and a couple of Nuthatch. Budworth Mere was fairly quiet apart from the Blacked Headed Gulls, as was the woodland walk to the Trent & Mersey canal.

Over the canal and down to Neumann's Flash for a clockwise loop, found a few Mute Swan, a hovering Kestrel and six Fieldfare. I spent some time on the western side watching Lapwing doing their best to avoid being bullied away by the growing number of Black Headed Gulls. On to Hadyn's pool where the highlight was a pair of Shoveler. On the Weaver were a pair of young Mute Swan but otherwise the river was quiet.

Walking back along the canal, I recalled the moment when 12 months prior, a boat owner (moored up on the toe-path side) jumped from her boat and shouted "Why must you walk past my boat and make my path muddy". Nowt queer as folk eh! Her back garden must be the Marbury Estate!

This Blue Tit on the Trent & Mersey canal was a much better encounter than last year

Avenue of Lime trees at Marbury